Eye of the Bear: A History Novel of Early California [Paperback]

Naida West (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 630 pages
• Publisher: Bridge House Books (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965348741
• ISBN-13: 978-0965348744
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #880,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ingenious prequel is fitting sequel, March 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Eye of the Bear: A History Novel of Early California (Paperback)

This book is as excellent and finely constructed as is Ms. West's prior book, "River of Red Gold", which follows "Eye of the Bear" in time. Her obvious extensive research is paid off in a compelling tale of pre-gold-rush (1820's) California, and the conflict between and among the Native Americans, the Spanish/Mexican secular rulers, and the religious zealots of the early California Missions. Interweaving historical characters with fictional representations of the time, "Eye of the Bear" draws the reader into a starkly believable environment. The story is painted with well-developed characters, engaged in love, hatred, empathy and war. I'm sorry these two books weren't written (and would recommend that they be read) in reverse order -- nonetheless, I hope another volume, perhaps continuing the same story but set in POST-gold-rush days, will follow. The book is long (over 600 pages), but I couldn't put it down until I came...sadly...to it's ending.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent historical/fiction story, September 19, 2006

By 

Jason D. Treadway "WebCowboy" (Pflugerville,TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eye of the Bear: A History Novel of Early California (Paperback)

As a fellow Northern Californian I really enjoyed reading both of Ms. West's stories. I met her at a book signing and I preferred to read Eye of the Bear first as it is a prequel to The river of red gold. I lived in the area that the books are mainly set in. (Sacramento) I have been to most of the areas and it really makes it more interesting to visualize the home of the Mi-wok's. The Sloughhouse Inn in the book is still there (although closed at the moment-2006-due to ownership problems. Both Eye and River of Red Gold are 5 star reads.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating prequel to "River of Red Gold", March 25, 2010

By 

Lisa Brandt (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eye of the Bear: A History Novel of Early California (Paperback)

This excellent prequel to Ms. West's "River of Red Gold," the first volume of her Central Califonia historical trilogy, provides lots of information about California in the early 1800's (before the Gold Rush). It is a valiant and very helpful effort to give a voice to the Native Americans who lived in California at the time, most of whom are gone now.

As a linguist, I was particularly fascinated by her painstaking work on native languages, much of which she clearly deepened after the first book. If you live in California, and want to know why some of our rivers have such strange names (American, Cosumnes, Mokelumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne), you absolutely must read this book. The names will never be the same to you again.

As was true for Ms. West's first book, the detail is convincing and accurate. One example I might give is the odd ridge-like rock formations that cross Putah Creek. I recognized them immediately from her description.

Like "River of Red Gold," this is not a book of happy history. Ms. West's genius is to bring alive all if the best aspects of the times as well as the tragedies, so that the reader can absorb and understand the injustices, while still enjoying the wonderful tales of heroic and rightous characters.